The invention set forth in this specification pertains to new and improved clamping structures which are primarily intended for use in holding adjacent, aligned, flanged pipe ends with respect to one another. The clamping structures of the invention are, however, capable of being utilized in other applications. Thus, for example, they can be utilized to secure aligned, circular, flanged, housing sections as are employed for a variety of purposes with respect to one another.
In a sense it may be considered that the present invention relates to the field of pipe connectors and/or couplings since the clamping structures of the invention are intended to be utilized in securing flanged pipe ends to one another so as to connect or couple such pipes with one another. The fact that many different types of pipe connectors and couplings have been proposed and used is considered to be a matter of common knowledge. It is not considered that an understanding of this invention requires a detailed discussion of many such common fittings or couplings. All sorts of connectors, couplings, unions, and the like are indicated in many common books discussing tubing and piping connections.
In many applications it is necessary and/or desirable to utilize pipe coupling structures which are of such a character that they can easily and conveniently be detached from and attached to pipes. Such easily and quickly utilized connectors are desirable because they minimize the amount of time required to and the amount of difficulty involved in assembling and disassembling piping. In many industries such as the food industry it is frequently necessary to assemble and disassemble either a part of or an entire piping system quite frequently in order to maintain desired standards of cleanliness.
In applications such as in the food industry and in other industries it is frequently considered desirable to utilize pipe provided with flanged ends which are adapted to be clamped together so as to secure adjacent sections of pipe together. There are many reasons for this, some of which are unimportant for an understanding of the present invention. Frequently the use of flanged ends on pipe is considered desirable because such flanged ends are considered to be less apt to contain and/or retain contaminants than the ends utilized with other types of coupling structures. In general, however, the use of flanged ends on pipe in connection with a known type of coupling type structure for securing such ends together is considered to be relatively disadvantageous or undesirable.
This is because of the problem of providing a satisfactory structure for clamping such flanged ends together and in particular, the problem of providing a structure for this purpose which may be easily and conveniently operated so as to minimize the amount of time required in either connecting pieces of pipe together and/or in disassembling such pieces of pipe. Although many different clamping structures for this purpose have been proposed and utilized, in general such prior structures are not considered to be as desirable as reasonably possible.
As an illustration of this it is known to clamp flanged pipe ends together utilizing a continuous, elongated, generally circular band having an internal groove dimensioned so as to accommodate to the external configuration of the flanges on the ends when such flanges are against one another, and to secure the ends of such a band so that the band is held against the flanges through the use of a conventional type fastener. Structures of this type are not particularly easy to utilize and are frequently of such a character that they are apt to be bent as they are being manipulated when they are being removed from or attached to the flanges on pipe ends.